Gem Grant Nigeria Application Guide (How To Apply)
Do you want to apply for Gem Grant Nigeria? Here is an application guide for you.
What Is Gem Grant?
The Growth and Employment in States (GEMS) project is a Federal Government initiative funded by the World Bank International Development Association in conjunction with the United Kingdom Department for International Development, to increase growth and create youth employment in small and medium-scale enterprises in Nigeria.
The project can be summarized to three aims that comes together to create youth employment and growth.
These aims include;
1) The project will provide for investments to address gaps that prevent key growth centers from expanding and hiring more Nigerians, in particular the young and poor.
2) The project will support Small and Medium Enterprises develop new business models, train the labor force to enable Nigerian businesses to participate more successfully in national and global supply chains, create more value in Nigeria, and employ more Nigerians.
3) The project will improve the business enabling environment so that businesses can grow faster, and become more profitable.
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General Application Eligibility
- Turn over not less than $5,000 per Annum
- You are ineligible if you have benefited from other governments grants
- Age limit is between 18 – 60
- The firm must have a minimum of 2 staffs excluding the owner
- You are ineligible if you’ve benefited from any GEM grant.
Available Grants To Apply For Under GEM Nigeria
Before applying, note that there are 5 different grants available on GEM project but only 3 are available for SMEs/startup.
The grants include;
- Equity Grants
- Matching Grants
- Performance Grants
- Institutional Grants (call for proposal)
- Innovative Grants (call for proposal)
- The first three grants above are available for SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises).
Equity Grants
Equity grants works differently in the sense that Equity Grants are for Private Finance Companies (PFCs) investing in startups or existing SMEs. If your revenues does not exceed $1 million in the last fiscal financial year, you can apply for this.
Matching Grants
Matching grants is for existing SME for profit private sector firms seeking to improve their business systems and processes. When applying for this, you would have to provide 50 percent of the total amount you need to improve or scale your business up.
Eligibility For Matching Grant
Before any firm applies for this grant, they must meet the following criteria.
1) The firm must be registered on the BIG platform
2) The firm has received notification that it has attained the minimum points that qualify the firm for a matching grant.
3) The total GEM funding requested must be at least $10,000 and no more than $50,000;
4) The firm must provide matching cash or cash-equivalent funds of at least 50 percent of the total project budget;
5) The firm must satisfy the requirements on Environmental and Social compliance
6) GEM funding must be requested for utilization on eligible costs or activities
7) The firm’s application must demonstrate that GEM funding will result in increased sales for the business, increased value added per worker and creation of new jobs.
Here’s How To Apply For Gem Grant (Application Process)
- Open the BIG website
- Ensure that you are eligible
- Click on the apply button
- Fill the basic registration form
- Check your email and activate your account
- Change your password, then login
- Fill the online application form
- Save and submit once completed
- Finally, check your email for confirmation
- Successful candidates will be notified via email and will be invited for an induction workshop near your location, ensure to attend the workshop.
In Conclusion
GEM Nigeria grant is open to all business owners and entrepreneurs to apply.
Are you searching online for how to apply for GEM Nigeria grant or funding for business?
I hope you find the information here useful.
